In “Paradise Lot,” two residents of an inner city write about how they transformed less than an acre of their blighted yard into a thriving food forest full of mushrooms, gooseberries, silkworms, and more.

Book review: Tom Wooten’s “We Shall Not Be Moved” follows leaders in five different post-hurricane neighborhoods, showing that New Orleanians are a unique breed, deeply loyal to their sometimes infuriating, often insane, and never imitated hometown.